Brick mold



Feb. 17, 1931.. J A. CROWELL BRICK- MOLD Filed April 13. 1929 PatenteclFeb. 17,193].

J. zinmsoncn'owntt, or wALLK Ln-KEW Yonx, Assienon'ro-JAMEsnJcnownnr, i

I wherein, clay material is forced through a dieinto af'set of molds. ,These molds are principally constructed of wood, 'and are subje'ctedto considerable pressure when the clay is fo ced Out'of a'bricl'rmachine or press a n t e molds. I

Y 1 In the manufacture brick by the use of said molds, either hand molds or such molds as' are used injthepresent highspeedand' high pressure automatic brickmachines, it

' 'i's necessary to have vents along the bottom ofeachmold for each brick to permit the. air to be forcedj out of the mold as the clay is forced in, and to permit the clayin a plastic c0nditionto flow fully into and complete- '2 ly fill the mold, particularly at the ends, corners, and sides of the botom QSuc/h molds, however, must be: madelof considerable strengthto withstand the pressure and-beatings,and the vents as heretofore utilized were. unsatisfactory because of necessarily weakening the mold structure, and. also forming 1fins or the like ion the brick, and oftentimes choking up. a r A further difficulty with prior've'nts in molds has beenthat, due to the constant wetting and drying offthe molds,. and the'consequent swelling-andishrinkingof the wood of the mold,'thel vents were constantly. varying insize, thusfpreventing'proper functionof themold. In my present invention I "have devised a mold structure and vent which gives great andincreased strength, and which insures the; completefilling'of corners, ends and sides, which insures an ample vent'opening, and which furthermoreinsures a vent opening of constant size, irrespective-of the condition ofthe wood of the mold, whether wet or'dry.

My novel mold will enable stifi'er and better clay material to be. put into the molds than hasheretofore been pos'sible.

The advantages of utilizing a stiffer clay 'will be instantlyapparent to those skilled, in the art, as theresulting brick stand up better, prevent deformation, dry quicker, and

If a son, or wALLxIrtj NEW YORK, A conronnrroiv or new. YonK BRICK MOLD.

1929. seri l mi 354,882. 7

burn more'evenly anduniformly, thus improving theentirej manufacture ofthe brick from the pug mill to the kiln; 'Th 'ad vantages of providing unvarying vent openings will also be'app'arent to those skilledin the'art. I In carrying provide metallic strips or straps" across, the inner bottom edges of'the mold panels, in such manner'that at least one side of each out my presnt*-invention, I 7

vent opening 'willbe definedibythis metal strip. 7 Ifdesired, the strips-maybe provided V with openings'tlierethrough adapted to reg ister withthe vent openings-cut in the bottom panels, ini whichjeventall sides of the vent openings would be defined by the metal of the strips. I 'l hus, the swelling orshrinking of the wood of the mold will have no effect on the size: of the vent opening, which will remain constant in 'sizewhether thefmold is dry or whether it is subjected to long and continuous moisture or wetting. V Thesemetal strips are sunk in the wood of the panel inorder to be flush with the inner bottom surface, and thus will not mar or injure the brick formed in the molds in any way. The ends and outer edge of each strip,

' also, will befiushwith the ends and outer edge ofthe mold panels, thu s enabling the panel to retain the same size and shape as "heretofore-.

The above and other'features and objects of Y the invention, detailsi of construction, combinationsofparts and advantagesjwill be hereinaftermore fully pointed out, described and claimed Referring to the drawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention,

I Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a ten brick mold constructed accordingto my present in en tion;

Fig. 2 is 'a vertical sectional view, on an en-. larged scale and in perspective, on the line 2 2ofFig. -1;- 1 c Fig. 3 is a perspectiveview of one of the mold backs or panels; v 7

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a slightly modified .type of metallic vent strip;and W' panels utilized in the mold of Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view'of one of th Referring now to the drawings, for a particular description of the invention, it will be appreciated that the brick molds utilizedin carrying out my invention may be of any suitable'or desired number or size of brick, The

invention may be embodied equallywell in a hand sized mold for forming one, two or more brick for hand-dumping, handling. and use, or in the present 6, .7, 8 or 10 brick and more,

make the panels 4 slightly spaced from the partitions 3, leaving a thin narrow vent ,or space between each panel edge. and the adjacent side ofthe partition, leaving thin narrow vents through which the clay material was forced, forming an objectionable burr or fin on the corner edge, and when subsequently broken off, this marred thebrick. Another method has been to form recesses, at predetermined distances from the edges of the panels 4, said recesses providing, when the, panels are assembled in the mold, vents through which the air would be forced. The objection to this type of vents has been that when the 'wood of the mold was wet, a swelling thereof would occur which would'decrease thesize of the vent opening and thus prevent proper functioning of the mold.

In carrying out my present invention, I provide, in each panel 4, and at predetermined distances from the ends thereof, recesses 7, these'recesses extendinga desired distance into the wood .of thepanel and being beveled downwardly and outwardly. Then, along each side of the inner surface of the panels4, I apply metallic strips 8, secured to the panels 4 by screws 9 or the like. The recesses 7 are preferably slightly deeper than the width of the strips 8, thus forming vents 10, one side of leach of which is defined'by the edge of the'strips 8.. Thus, when the wood of the mold is wet and swells, the size of the openings or vents 10 will remain substantially unchanged, insuring constant properfunctioning ofthe mold under all conditions of moisture and dryness. The outer edge and ends of the strips 8 will be flush with the outer edge and ends of the panels '4, and the said strips 8 will be set in the wood of the panels 4 flush with the inner surface thereof, as clearly illustrated in the drawings. Thus the size of the panels 4 isexactly the same as if made entirely of wood. These metallic strips 8 also will greatly reinforce and strengthen the. said panels 4, and thus will greatly strengthen the mold as a whole.

The number. and size. of the vents 10 may, i

of course, be varied depending on the character or quality of the clay material being utilized, but regardless of original size, these vents will alwaysjremain constant andiunvarying, being substantially unaffected by the give and take or swelling and. shrink-" ing of the wood of the mold. In this manner the vent openings 10 willalways be pro portional to the work and clay for which the mold is intended, larger openings being suitable forhigher speed operations and stiffer clay, or otherwise as desired or necesy- In Figs. 4 and 5 I have illustrated aslight modification of the invention, wherein the iron strips 11 are secured to-thepanel'4'by screws 12 or the like, these-strips being of greater width than the depth--of thefiared 5 openings 13,, eachrstrip 11 having vents 14 formed therein to register with said openings 13. Thus the vents 14 are positively unvary ing and constant, without the-slightest degree of variation in size regardless of the condi-. tionsto which the moldis subjected. The strips 11 are set in the panels 4 in the same manner as the strips 8, flush with the inner surface of said panels, and'flush with the ends and outer edges thereof. This slight modification is well within the scope and range of-the invention, as will be readily appreciatedby those skilled in this art.

My invention is further described .de-

fined in the form .of claim as follows;

In a multi-brick mold, a wooden bottom panel completely covering the bottom of each individual mold, said panel having recesses out inwardly from the sides thereof at predetermined spaced intervals, the inner walls of said recesses, flaring from the luppersurface of said bottom panel toward the center thereof, saidpanel having a recess extending longitudinally'along the upper surface and at, each side from end to end thereof, said first recesses projecting into the body of said panel beyond said second recesses, a metallic I .str1p seated in each Of'SEtld second recesses, v 2

said strips being flush with the top, ends and sides ofsaid panel, said strips traversing said first recesses and closing all but a relatively small amount thereof, said strips cooperating with said first recesses to form narrow'vents in the upper surface of said panel, one edge of said strips forming one side. ofsaid vents and retaining said ventssubstantially constantin size, regardless of changing conditions of moisture or dryness, and means to rigidly attach said strips to said panel in their v recesses.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my f nameio this specification; v l

- J. ADDISON CROWELL. 

